Loyalty Only to Me
by AuronLu
Summary: A sinister fanvid casting Lulu as Morgan Le Fay sent my muse down a dark and twisted path. Result: a bizarre alternate universe FFX story weaving in the Arthurian Mythos. And Lulu must have her revenge! ON HOLD; STUCK MUSE IS STUCK
1. Hush, Hush

_Story inspired by the delightfully creepy imagery and lyrics of the "Lulu's Lullaby" fanvid on Youtube. Go there and add this to the URL: watch?vrOWqXE3BLkA_

_Chapter titles are mostly song lyrics from the "Mordred's Lullaby" song by Heather Dale, the soundtrack for that video. _

* * *

. 

"Um, Lulu? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She glanced up from the infant dozing in her arms and smiled distantly. "What is it, Tidus?"

The young man gulped. He had reason to be edgy around her, of course, and seldom dared look her in the eye these days. Wary glances had passed between them a few times: memories of an ill-advised night in Guadosalam, after Guado wine had proved that even the mage's cold iron reserve could be loosened under the right circumstances. Or the wrong ones. He had been dropped from her "list" by the next morning, but the damage had been done.

Lulu had put the indiscretion behind her at once -- it was hardly the first mistake or disappointment in her life, and she and regret had always been on rather distant terms. To her surprise, Tidus had been able to get over the embarrassment quickly, and had acted only a little more cocky than usual for a day or so. Lulu was probably lucky that the larger Seymour problem soon distracted him, or he might bragged about his most outrageous score to Wakka. Not that Wakka would have believed him.

Something had changed since his return. Tidus no longer came to her like a lost puppy seeking counsel and wisdom or a verbal cuff. Partly that was because he and Yuna were all over each other. However, when he visited the hut she and Wakka shared, he always seemed to be talking to Wakka and not to her. Wakka had insisted she was imagining things, but his obliviousness almost certainly confirmed it.

The young man who stood facing her was pale behind his smile. He gave the sleeping child a nervous glance.

"He's a heavy sleeper," she said mildly. "Go on."

There was an agonizing hesitation before he began clumsily, "Do you remember your parents, Lulu?"

"Of course." She frowned, feeling the distant tug of old sorrow dulled by years of resignation. "Sin killed them. Why?"

"Oh." His face fell. "Well, um... my old man, y'see... I learned some things while I was on the Farplane. Things I didn't want to. And I'm really sorry, Lulu."

She shook her head, that old mannerism so familiar that he almost smiled. "I shall sit here until you find your way to a point, Tidus," she said with dry patience.

"Jecht, he could -- back at the beginning, y'know, when Yu Yevon was still weak -- sometimes he could still kinda pull it back together. Do whatever Auron did to keep up appearances. Walk around in something like his real body, the one we saw inside of Sin. But he was still _Jecht_." Tidus scowled bitterly. "After a couple weeks as Sin, he broke his promise to Auron. Got drunk sometimes. Said it was the only thing that helped him keep Yu Yevon out of his head for a while. That stopped working after a few months, but before that-- no, let me back up."

He was fidgeting worse than ever. "Sin really _can_ take people back, forward in time. Just like it can take 'em in, out of the Dream, or even be inside of _itself_. Time and space and reality just sorta don't work the same way with Sin as for us. So when you're Sin, sometimes you get confused where you are, when you are, and you never know where you'll wind up..."

"Tidus." The mage leaned forward. Whatever was bothering him was starting to bother her. "The point."

"You're my sister," he blurted, disbelieving and scared and taking a step backwards even though she was sitting down with a baby in her lap.

Lulu's mouth opened slightly, but she didn't say a word. Couldn't. That went along with "times Lulu had giggled at Tidus' jokes" for a new record, but he couldn't exactly enjoy the victory.

After she didn't speak, he went on miserably. "I... don't know who your mother was. I don't know if she was the lady who raised you. I _tried_ to dig it out of him, but he wasn't sure." Tidus looked down at his hands. "But that's... why you're not like anyone else, Lulu. Didn't you ever _wonder_? It's Sin. Nobody else has power like yours. Dad recognized you the first time we fought him, when we were trying to save Kilika. Said your bolts gave him a hangover without the good part." He swallowed again. "I'm sorry, Lulu. How could we have known?"

She was staring at Vidina, not Tidus. She was going to keep sitting there, apparently, and her icy silence began to unnerve him even more.

"I can change time too, you know, in a more limited way," she said finally in a low, flat voice. "Haste. Stop. Slow. There are different applications. Such as... a pilgrimage is hardly the time and place to bring a child to term."

Tidus gaped. "What?"

"You heard me." Vidina stirred and yawned, roused perhaps by the sudden lack of music in his mother's most dangerous purr. Abruptly she gathered her son close, rose with stiff-backed elegance, and swept away, skirts jingling against the grass. "Good day, Tidus."


	2. Darkness Will Rise From the Deep

_Again, I recommend searching for and watching "Lulu's Lullaby" on Youtube to creep yourself out, if you haven't already. See if you can pick out which images in that thing inspired the second half of this chapter. ;)_

* * *

. 

Sun shone down on Besaid Island, and Eternal Calm's blessings continued to unfold like a moist butterfly's wings emerging from a chrysalis. But daylight and shadow still kept well apart; Tidus to the sun and beaches, Lulu to home or forest or the temple's dim chambers. Sooner or later, their friends were bound to notice the chasm of silence that had opened between former Guardians, but Lulu would leave that for Tidus to sort out as he might. She had a son to raise and a doting husband to watch over.

Yuna, perceptive as ever, made the first and only attempt to smooth things over between lover and friend. A week after Tidus had dropped the stone on her, Lulu was ambushed by the younger woman at the village well. Yuna was unusually insistent in offering to help her carry the pair of large round-bellied jars back to Wakka's hut.

Four hands halved the work, after all. Besides, Lulu was not about to let the awkwardness with Tidus spoil her bond with Yuna, even if she could sense awkward questions coming like Sin's approach half a mile off-shore.

"I've never understood why you can't just conjure up your cooking water," Yuna teased innocently as they started off.

"I've tried," Lulu said, adjusting her load's balance with care and lowering her hands. "But the pot always explodes like one of Rikku's experiments."

Yuna chuckled. "Oh, I should have guessed." Stooping under a heavy amphora balanced across her back and shoulders, she stole an envious glance at the older woman. Not only was Lulu able to balance a heavy jar on her head, but somehow she managed to do it without disturbing her bun. "How's Little Hands today?"

"Vidina," his mother said crisply, "is being a handful to Papa and his ham-handed teammates out on the beach. The Aurochs are trying to teach Wakka Jr. how to catch a ball."

Yuna giggled and sloshed. "Well, if he figures it out, maybe he can show them."

Lulu smiled faintly. "Ever the dreamer, my dear."

"Hey, my dreams come true, you know!" she shot back with a touch of spirit. Seeing the mage's eyes flutter half-closed at some inner thought, she eased towards her target cautiously as they made their way back through the trees. "Lulu. You've barely spoken to Tidus since he got here. I won't be jealous if you still want to boss him around. I can share."

Lulu abruptly missed a step, catching her shoe against a root. With a faint "ah!" she went right down. Her amphora tipped sideways and fell to the forest floor with a thunderbolt crash, bursting into hundreds of clay shards swept out in a spray pattern by the outrushing water. Yuna could not put the other jug down quickly enough to catch her, and knelt over her wringing her hands.

"Oh, Lulu!"

The mage averted her face, concealing a grimace. "Well, so much for that pot."

"You--" Yuna clucked her tongue and smiled, supposing at first that the woman had sprained nothing worse than her dignity. "You lost a hair-stick," she amended, knowing how much the mage disliked fuss.

"So I did." Lulu retrieved it and tucked it back into place, surveying the spray pattern of potsherds around them and circling her foot gingerly. That ankle was going to need ice soon. As if reading her mind, Yuna bent and gathered Lulu's heel into her lap, gently cupping her hands around the joint. The mage relaxed, admiring her friend's talent: as soon as the ex-summoner breathed out, the pain vanished.

Like the pot, however, there were certain things that could not be so easily mended. Yuna was going to keep asking, and Lulu did not feel up to this dance for long. Her hand closed tightly around her friend's as the younger woman helped her up. "Yes, I'm afraid that Tidus and I had an... argument. I assure you, I am only a little irked with him, but it may be best if we leave each other alone for a while."

Yuna gave her a severe look. "After all we've been through, Lulu, I can't believe you two can't just sit down and talk it out. But... he can be wooden-headed sometimes." Her scowl softened as she stepped back. "And you can be so stubborn. Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Absolutely not."

Yuna sighed and retrieved the remaining water jar, recognizing that tone of finality.

"Yuna," the mage said more gently, "I won't often say this to you, but -- it's not your business. You are no longer obligated to bring or make peace between everyone in Spira."

"Hmph." Yuna grunted as she hoisted the jar to her hip. "How about between my friends?"

"Not this time, dear heart. It is not a matter he or I wish to discuss. In fact, the sooner we put it behind us, the better."

Moving carefully, Yuna turned back and gave her a long look. "All right." She nodded, then shifted subjects abruptly. "So, when does Vidina start magic lessons?"

That drew an arrogant smile. "At the breast. Mother's milk, you know."

Yuna's cheeks colored. "Oh."

Lulu fell into step beside her, touching her elbow in quiet thanks. "Don't worry, he won't be setting anyone's tail on fire until he's learned to speak in complete sentences."

The younger girl laughed at the old memory. "Okay. I'll warn Kimahri the next time we talk: if he wants to come visit us, he'd better do it soon."

* * *

. 

_Soon._ Wakka, Tidus and Vidina would be returning from the beach in a few hours. Excusing herself for a nap, Lulu shooed Yuna away as quickly as she dared without making her wise friend suspicious. Being tucked in by a clucking High Summoner was a rare privilege, she supposed, but she chafed impatiently until she heard the soft thump of the door-flap falling against the mat below. After a discreet interval, Lulu rose and rolled a few blankets into a bundle, hurried to her magic items cabinet and selected a blue sphere from the bottom drawer, and slipped back out to the forest.

Summoners healed, brought light and life, gave death only to that which was already well past death: Fiends and Sin. Black mages -- or maybe just Lulu, for she had not seen a true mage in two decades, since she considered dresspheres counterfeits -- were summoners' opposites. Death they could deal in many forms. But where summoners could gently send, black mages could sternly summon. It was not Aeons they called forth.

It was a secret they had kept for centuries. If Spirans realized that powerful black mages could call the dead without the trouble of going to Guadosalam, everyone would be petitioning them as a messenger service. The ritual was too much of a strain to be used so frivolously.

Sitting cross-legged on a riverbank in the darkest part of the jungle, Lulu cupped the empty memory sphere in her white fingers, watching the blue light play over her pale skin. With each breath, her focus circled more tightly around that small knot of power. Finally, she looked up and flipped a hand absently towards the river's surface to send a quick jolt followed by a freeze to deal with any nearby piranas.

The mage addressed the waters in clear, crisp tones. "I come to you."

She clenched her teeth and pressed the heels of her palms together with all her strength. There was a crunch. Sphere fragments cut into her hands, and she had to move quickly to turn the most intact part and catch some of the blue liquid dripping through her fingers mixed with blood. Pressing lips and teeth together to avoid swallowing any glass, she drew the eggshell-cup to her mouth, tipped her head back, and drank every drop she had been able to save.

Burning cold, freezing hot: she had never made up her mind about the oily liquid one way or the other, but the taste was bitter saltwater. Pyreflies began to spiral before her darkened vision almost at once. Easing herself over the edge of the muddy bank, she lowered her bare feet to the muddy bottom of the stream. Then she waded out.

"Therefore," she hissed, as the biting cold began to make her legs go numb, "you come to me."

Yuna's graceful dances over the surface of lake and sea had been airy, light, of a piece with the sky. The black mage felt her feet sinking into the murky silt, hidden in the depths. She raised her arms and began to dance in a sluggish moon-wise spiral, braids leaving furrows in the icy water behind her. Darkness began to rise from below as her feet kicked up mud from the bottom. She fought drowsiness, which could be lethal under the circumstances.

Slowly the blackness bubbled up and over her outer vision. She sank down, down, and down for a dreary eternity lit only by the occasional pyrefly streamer, until she had lost any sense of time or her own body. At long last, a searing blue light sprang up around her, enveloping her. She could make out no forms, lines, or shapes. Staggering, she reached out and groped blindly until her knuckles rapped against a cold, hard, polished surface. She flinched when strong calloused hands suddenly closed around her wrists.

"Lost something?" a male voice asked testily.

"Auron." Well, that was luck. She made out a blood-red shape through the blue glare. "Good of you to come."

"Hmph." He eased his grip, allowing her to cling to his stiff belt to steady herself. "The dead should be allowed to rest."

"You didn't have to answer me."

He laughed grimly. "Your intrusion made me curious. I thought you had sense enough not to go chasing memories on the Farplane."

"Then I'm afraid I must disappoint you. I came seeking answers about the past." She blanched as another wave of nausea rolled by. "Jecht."

"Ah." He grunted. "Tidus told you."

"It's true?"

"That depends on what he told you. And no, Jecht's not here."

"Just as well, I suppose. I'm not sure what _thundaga_ would do in this place." She shuddered and collected her thoughts once more. _Focus, Lulu._ "I have a very trivial question. Nevertheless, I should like an answer. Tidus named my father, but not my mother. Do you happen to know--"

"I don't track other people's genealogies." Same old Auron. "Does it matter?"

"I suppose not," she said, disappointed. "Kiera is my mother, however she came by me. Wakka is Vidina's father, after all."

That dry snort deserved some sort of retribution, but as she'd noted, it was hard to predict _thundaga's_ effect down here. "What do you intend to do about it?" he asked.

"Nothing. What's done is done."

"I see," he said skeptically. "You came here for nothing. Then why call me?"

"Just sometimes," she retorted, "I miss having someone intelligent to talk to."

"We never talked." His gruff whisper sounded amused. "Take care, Lulu."

Lulu drew in a sharp breath to try and squeeze in one more question, but her time had run out. She found her mouth and throat filled with cold water. Choking and sputtering, she thrashed her way to the surface and heaved herself weakly onto the bank. Bundling into the blankets she had brought, she lay shivering, staring up into the dark canopy of leaves for several minutes. Finally, enough life rushed back into her hands to let her conjure a weak heat spell. It had come in handy on Gagazet.

"Damn you, Jecht," she whispered. Tidus' words, time and again.

She understood a little better, now.


	3. Child of My Body, Flesh of My Soul

The sea rose and fell, thudding against the cliffs at both corners of the bay and reverberating through the soles of the mage's bare feet as she promenaded along the shore. Warm saltwater lapped at her toes. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the flash of young bodies and limbs at work and play. A new generation of Aurochs was bumbling through morning drills, as eager and artless as their predecessors had been. Now and then she had to sidestep a hurtling blitzball. It was more of a challenge with a baby in her arms, but she had few enough challenges nowadays that she barely minded.

Wakka, sweating in the sun, advanced on the teen who had launched the last one and gave the boy a fierce dressing-down. Listening to his diatribe with mild amusement --she was starting to rub off on him, apparently -- Lulu noted his wink in her direction. His gruff lecture was mostly for show; he knew from old battles how deft she was at dodging.

After doling out assignments to the newest recruits, he trotted over to his family with a goofy grin of paternal pride. "Sorry about dat, Lu. Maybe you and V should get out o' the sun, ya?" Vidina cooed and tugged at Wakka's suspenders as he leaned close.

Lulu looked over at the shelter that Wakka and Tidus had built for her, a few faded awnings stretched on painted wooden poles. The canvas came from the remnants of the tent that had served her for two pilgrimages. She was touched by the thoughtful gift, but saddened too. It was a sign of closure, for good and ill. "In a moment. I need to stretch my legs, Wakka; I've been cooped up in the house for a week."

"Mmmph." He pried Vidina's stubby thumb from his nostril and made ridiculous faces until the infant shrieked with laughter. "Hey, it's my turn to take V tomorrow. I hear there's a few flans on the south trail botherin' people. Jus' the thing to help you relax, eh?"

"Perfect. Just so you don't forget to change his --"

"Yeah, Lu, I promise," he said, blushing. Vidina's first day on the beach had been less than a success; Wakka had received a thorough dressing-down himself after bringing home a cranky and sunburnt baby.

The mage tipped back her chin and closed her eyes, basking in dapples of sunlight flashing off the water. Sun, fire in its most perfected form, made the air thrum with palpable radiance. Lulu could get drunk on the elements out here. For now, Vidina was still delighted by everything indiscriminately; soon she hoped to see the first hints that he, too, could taste those currents to which most Spirans were blind and deaf. The battered old moogle he was clutching was a promising sign: every morning she found him curled up with it, in clear preference to the stuffed toy Rikku had sent him from the New Home Festival.

She snapped out of reverie just in time to duck another blitzball whizzing past.

"Yo! Watch it, Cleis!" Wakka kissed her hastily and pelted off to administer another firm lesson.

Vidina waved the doll after his father vaguely. Stroking the boy's head, Lulu began to chant in a low, purring singsong, lulling him to sleep as she strolled back to the sun-shade and the hammock-chair slung beneath. Sinking into the webbing, she stared off across the sand to the bluff on the far side of the cove. TIdus and Yuna were up there, sitting side by side in the grass. She saw the young man's hands moving animatedly as he regaled the High Summoner with some sort of story. Yuna's clear laughter carried on the breeze, recalling that fateful day three years ago when they set out from Luca. Pensively, Lulu set a toe against the ground and began to swing.

It had been two months now since Tidus' disagreeable revelation. It irked her that she was going to have to make the first move to end this awkward impasse between them. She felt obscurely that he was responsible for the whole mess, although she knew that if anyone was to blame besides Jecht, it was herself. She should never have been so reckless; she could hardly expect wisdom from him.

_Dwelling on the past is pointless._ Her old truism and Auron's reasserted itself, one he had learned only after getting himself killed by some bitch wearing more eye-shadow than underwear. Lulu had better prove herself wiser.

Vidina stirred again and hiccuped, nuzzling her belly. Well-attuned to the tides of his body and hers by now, the young mother unpinned one shoulder of her gown and pushed it down, catching his doll before it dropped to the sand. This was a quieter sort of magic that she was learning now: her son's eyes squeezed tight as he pressed tiny hands against either side of her breast and suckled, the life flowing between them.

"I'll tell you the story of water," the mage murmured in time to his nursing. "Water, water in the sea, water in the ocean, heavy and vast. Ebb and flow, advance and retreat, the moon's pulse and the land's womb. Sun-kissed it rises, sun-buoyed it spreads, grows wings of mist and fills the sky. Water, water in the clouds, water in the fog that hangs upon the hill. Water, water sinking and falling, gathering into drops that shower down. They batter the land, they sink into the soil, they meet in puddles and lakes and our village well. Water, water, flowing in rivers, seeping from rock-walls, running down towards the sea. Water rejoining the ocean. Water rejoicing in its own tears. And so the dance begins anew--"

She broke off the lesson suddenly, hearing boots scuffing the sand. Tidus came galumping around the corner of the nearest fishing-hut and halted in his tracks, averting his gaze. "Oh. Hi, Lulu."

"Tidus."

He was trying to peek at Vidina without staring at her, which was honestly more aggravating than if he'd just stood there ogling. "Um." Swinging his arms and kicking the sand, he seemed to be digging for the right words. "Man, this is just stupid," he said finally. "My -- our -- old man shouldn't be screwing up anyone's lives anymore, right? So... why can't we still be friends?"

"Your father, not mine. I never knew him." _Sin_ she knew as well as anyone steeped in Yevon. But Jecht was a stranger, and she preferred to keep it that way. "I don't recall giving you any sort of edict, Tidus. We are still Yuna's Guardians. You are still the madman who popped out of the sea and turned Spira upside down by saving it, and I am still the one you seek for counsel when you're suffering a bout of cluelessness."

He burst out laughing with relief, causing VIdina to squirm around and peer at him. "Whew. I thought you were furious with me."

"Not this time." She nodded towards the breakers. "I am more displeased with Jecht."

"Yeah." He sighed. "No kidding. I'm sor--"

"Stop apologizing," she said sharply.

"Okay, okay." He waved his hands and scooted a little closer. "So. He really is... ours?"

"Yes," she said. "And no."

"Hunh?"

"Wakka is his father." She draped Vidina over her shoulder, tapping his back and ignoring the small fists yanking her braids. "He was there for the birth. He held me in his arms, put up with every curse I rained down on his head, anchored me breath for breath. I think his shoulder still bears the marks from my nails." She gave Tidus a meaningful look. "A night's casual liaison is nothing more than idle pleasure, Tidus. Childbirth is the hardest trial one can face in this life, both for the mother who endures it and for the father who can do nothing but watch and pray. Do you understand?"

Tidus was staring at his shoes; apparently the frank description was more information than he wanted. "Um. I guess so. But... does Wakka know? I mean, shouldn't he?"

"He should." She sighed. "But he does not. Were I still a believer, I would say your news about Jecht is my punishment from Yevon for keeping this from my husband. But Vidina is healthy, and Wakka is overjoyed, and I will _not_ have either of them burdened by our mistake. Unlike Yunalesca's secret, this one would cause more distress by revealing than concealing it."

"Okay." He sounded disappointed, but grinned weakly at Vidina's tiny burp. "May I... may I hold him, Lulu?"

"You won't tell Wakka?"

Tidus nodded. "No. That's a promise."

"All right." She handed Vidina across. The drowsy baby fumbled at the steel Abes symbol dangling from his necklace, and Lulu had to snatch it out of reach before Vidina cut his mouth. Thwarted, he began to cry.

"Aw, man," Tidus said, reddening. "I'm not that bad, am I?" Vidina's face began to pucker and turn purple as he worked himself up to a full-blown tantrum. Lulu observed but did not intervene. As far as she was concerned, the stormy outbursts were Vidina's version of a thunderbolt, a perfectly healthy release as long as they didn't happen too often.

Just in time, Tidus staved off the imminent explosion with a lullaby. He stumbled through the first few notes of the Hymn of the Fayth, or at least Lulu assumed that's what it was. Perhaps Vidina was also confused; he stopped pouting and goggled instead.

Sir Auron was right, as usual: Tidus was no singer. At least she had not inherited _that_ from Jecht, she mused tiredly.

* * *

. 

His body rose and fell above hers like the crash of the sea --

"Lu? Lu! C'mon, Lu, wake up."

She hissed and twisted out from under the broad hand covering her cheek. Suddenly Lulu found herself back in her own bed, staring up at the complex woven patterns on the ceiling backlit by moonlight. The burning sun and the unnerving mantra of _sister_ at her ear were replaced by darkness and the shimmering hum of cicadas. "Wakka?"

"You okay?" His eased his arm around her waist cautiously -- she had moods like the weather, and he misread them at his peril. "Must've been some dream, ya? You nearly kicked me outta bed."

Lulu snuggled back against him and closed her eyes. "Sorry, Wakka. Preemptive strike after you stole all the blankets two nights in a row." He opened his mouth to defend himself, but his retort evaporated when he heard her whispered afterthought. "No, I want you right here."

"Aw, Lu." Guessing there was no high surf advisory for the moment, he curled around her and planted a few of those endearingly clumsy kisses against the side of her neck, soothing. "I was jus' worried, dat's all. It's not like you. When you're asleep, anyway."

Her lips curled in a weak smile at the dig. "Wakka, have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"Uh." He paused, savoring the rare admission. "Not for a while. And I love you all the way, Lu-- you know dat, right?"

"So I've noticed."

"Good." He squeezed her lightly. "I asked if you were okay."

"I will be." Her hand drifted up his arm to his shoulder and held on. Slowly her racing heartbeat subsided. At length, she rolled towards him, and they fell to drowsy kisses for some minutes.

"What the heck is going on?" he asked finally. "It sounded like you said 'Tidus.' And you two have been acting funny lately." He paused, feeling her stiffen. "Whoah, we don't have to talk about it now. But if he's done anything stupid -- you let me know, ya?"

_Damn._ "It was an accident, Wakka. And he's apologized," she said. "And if you ask him about it, I shall have to hurt you, so don't bother."

He laughed and hugged her close. "Ah, _there's_ my Lu. Okay, then."

Right on cue, Vidina roused and started fussing. Wakka gave her another squeeze, silently telling her to stay put, and went to fetch him. She lay listening to the quiet domestic sounds with detached wonder and a twinge of melancholy: was this really the life they lived now? Sometimes she could not wrap her mind around the Calm. But Wakka's dopey patter of "who's a big man?" and "where's momma, now?" made it a little easier to grasp. Soon he returned and settled Vidina on her stomach, then slid under the covers and wrapped his arms loosely around both of them. "Hey-ya. Hungry little boy we got here."

"Mmm-hmm." She exhaled, relaxing as the child settled down to nurse. "Did you remember the moogle?"

"Yeah, 's right here." Wakka sighed. "Are you sure that thing's safe, Lu? That stuffed Zu that Rikku sent is awfully cute."

"Stop worrying. That's my oldest moogle; it knows how to behave itself."

He shook his head. "Ya. That's what worries me."

"Wakka, shut up." She turned her head and kissed his stubbly chin affectionately. "Idiot. _I_ cast the magic, not the moogles. They just helped me focus when I was learning new spells. Anyway, if you're taking Vidina to the beach when the_ Aurochs_ are practicing, you have no excuse to be worrying about that _doll_."

"You got me." He yawned and reached out to flip her bangs down over her eyes, taking advantage of the temporary immunity afforded by the baby's proximity. "Momma Lulu knows best."


	4. Guileless Son

In fact, Lulu's estimate had been off by several months; Vidina was not yet speaking in complete sentences.

It was a drizzly, sticky summer afternoon, when most of the village was napping. A kettle of water had begun to grumble and mutter on the small ceramic stove in the corner, masked by the sound of Wakka's snoring. Lulu, chopping roots at a small portable table near the stove, kept half an eye on Vidina playing on the doormat. He was discovering that a half-deflated blitzball was not the most steady prop to use for pulling himself up. Every time he tumbled back onto his rump, he giggled loudly.

Soon he would be walking on his own, and that meant caution: the jungle was a hazardous place for children at the toddler stage. His baby-prattle was beginning to sprout real words, too. _Moogle_ was one of the first that he'd learned, and his mother smiled to hear it in the midst of his play-chatter. Of course, at this stage the word sounded more like _moob_.

"That's right, sweetheart. Where's your Moogle? Do you have your Moogle? Where's Vidina's Moogle?" _And to think I used to find conversations with _Tidus_ mindless._

Vidina burbled happily and scooted across the brightly-colored rugs to wrap his arms around her calf, giggling. "Moob."

"No, dear, Momma's not a Moogle," she said, reaching down to ruffle his curls. "Want to show me your Moogle? Go find your doll, sweetheart. Let's see Mog."

"_Moob_," he insisted, grinning and rocking from side to side. He brought a fist up by his ear in uncanny imitation of one of her spells.

His mother had a few seconds to puzzle over a sequence of creaking, tinkling, popping noises before the stovetop suddenly shattered and flew in all directions with a bang, kettle of water and all. She dropped to her knees behind Vidina to shield him, not quite fast enough; he let out a lusty howl. Wakka sat up with a lurch just as the kettle came back down, dumping its contents over the remains of the stove and filling the hut with a whoosh of white steam.

"_Lu!_" He catapulted out of bed and seized their son, sweeping him towards the door.

Gritting her teeth against the rain of charcoal fragments and broken ceramic that had peppered her back, the mage set about extinguishing the coals with a few layers of water and ice, multiplying the steam. None too soon. The spike of flame that had burst from the heart of the coals had fizzled out quickly, but the wall behind it was smoldering. "How is he?" she asked urgently between spells.

"Burned his knee," Wakka said, rocking the sobbing child and trying to sound calm for the baby's sake. "Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay, V..."

A commotion of voices outside began to rise from the neighboring huts. Within moments, Yuna and Tidus arrived at the door, which Lulu had thrown open earlier for what little breeze was wafting up from the beach. Villagers began to gather in ones and twos behind them, trying to peer inside but keeping well back.

Tidus had his sword out. "What's going on?"

Yuna hurried to the crying baby and distressed father, her soothing murmurs meant for both of them. Vidina kept bawling, but the frantic note in his voice began to fade as she applied a Cure.

"We have another mage in the village," Lulu said, barely audible in the hubbub.

"I think Lu blew up dinner," Wakka said simultaneously, sounding dazed.

Tidus sheathed his sword, shook his head, and hurried over to Lulu's magical supplies cabinet to fetch a healing potion. "What a mess." He wrinkled his nose at the aroma of burnt broth. "Dang, and it was Garuda stew, wasn't it?"

Lulu shooed away the spectators with a pointed look, then held still while he treated her back and shoulders. If not for the squalling child who was the focus of their care and attention, the four could almost have been back on the road together, cleaning up after a close encounter with a Bomb. Almost. Tidus was being even more careful than usual to splash the mage's reddened skin instead of touching her, despite her old lectures about wasting potions.

As soon as he was finished, Lulu retrieved the Moogle from Vidina's toy basket, whispering a few words to it before bringing it over to him. Still wailing, he clutched it by the nose. At least that gave his father's forearms a respite from feeble punches.

Wakka watched this exchange nervously, eyeing the doll dangling over his elbow as if afraid it might nip. "Man, dat's just what we need--"

"It is just what _he_ needs." The sorceress sighed, torn between a scowl and a smile. "We'll have to keep him well away from fires for a while."

Yuna gave Vidina a peck on his chubby cheek and stepped back. "All better, Little Hands?"

They took turns coaxing the child until his weeping subsided. There were victory-smiles all around when, at last, he stuck the doll's ear in his mouth and began chewing.

"There ya go," Wakka said, exhaling. "Thanks, you two."

"Sure thing," Tidus said. "So, eh, you guys wanna eat at our place tonight?"

"That'd be great," Wakka said. "Right, Lu?"

"That would be lovely."

"Good." Yuna tilted her head apologetically. "There's something I wanted your opinion on, anyway. Both of you."

"Ya? Shoot."

"We can talk over dinner. It's complicated–"

"It's politics," Tidus put in irritably.

"Right." Yuna winked in the mage's direction. "And first I need to call Kimahri and warn him that his tail is in jeopardy. See you all in a few hours!" 


End file.
